Like We Used to Do
by DownToTheSea
Summary: On Christmas Eve in the new Sanctuary, Helen and Nikola spend the night reliving old times.


**A/N: Written for another Tumblr prompt, this one for a lovely anon who wanted to see Teslen dancing on Christmas Eve! 3**

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"Worried about whether the children will like their presents?"

The sound of Nikola's voice roused Helen from the contemplative state she'd fallen into, staring at the Christmas tree and the fire crackling nearby.

"Not especially." Helen was confident in her gift selection this year – Henry in particular was going to love his signed script of _Empire Strikes Back_. "Why do you ask?"

She turned. Nikola was leaning against the door with his arms crossed, watching her with a faint smile.

"Aww, Helen." He came towards her, glancing at the tree. "All these years and you still think I don't know when you're distracted?"

"I can certainly tell when you are," Helen said, chuckling at the rather longing expression Nikola was favoring the pile of gifts with.

"Well, it's just that there's a mysteriously wine-bottle-shaped package there," he said innocently. "I wonder who that's for…" His fingers twitched as he took a step forward.

"Ah ah, don't you dare." Helen caught his hand firmly before he could move another inch. "You'll have to wait and find out with everyone else."

He sighed. "Well, it was worth a try."

"You're giving up rather easily," Helen said, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

Giving her a grin, Nikola held up their entwined hands. "Got you to hold my hand, didn't it?"

"Oh, dear lord…"

"You know I'd rather have you than a million bottles of wine, my dear." He always sounded especially delighted when he had an excuse to lay it on this thick.

"Why, Nikola," she said sarcastically. "You old romantic."

"Always," he said, winking at her. "But don't think I'm distracted so easily."

"Distracted from what?"

"Come on, Helen. When I came in here you looked like you were about a million miles away."

"About a million? Very scientific of you."

"Approximately, then. A long way. A great distance. You, my dear, are trying to change the subject," he said, leveling a finger at her. "I'd make a comment about how devious it is, but then I'd get distracted by how hot you are when you're devious."

Helen smiled slightly. "I was only thinking." She looked away from Nikola, out through the window. Artificial snow was falling against an ink-black sky, coaxed there by some technological wizardry from the two of them and Henry, but beyond that it was nothing but caves and tunnels. They were nestled away in their own little world down here.

"What a long way we've come from where we started," she said softly.

"That a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand.

"Who said it had to be one or the other?"

Nikola nodded, understanding. He dropped her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leaning over to plant a kiss on the side of her head.

They stayed like that for a few minutes until Helen shook aside her thoughts and glanced at Nikola with a wry smile. "I'm assuming you had some purpose in coming here apart from spying on your presents."

"Yeah, but I don't know, I'm kinda liking this…" he mumbled against her hair.

"Nikola."

"Fine… Actually, I was going to smuggle your gifts in," he admitted. "I just didn't figure you'd be standing guard all night. My my, Helen," he added, looking at her with amusement. "You seem awfully curious. Weren't you the one just talking about waiting your turn?"

Helen schooled her face back into a neutral expression. "Ah, but didn't you know? Special rules apply to the Sanctuary leader," she said very seriously.

"Uh huh. You forget I've actually read your plodding charter."

She chuckled. "Worth a shot."

"Now you sound like me," Nikola said.

"Perish the thought," she said with mock horror. "Well, smuggle away. I promise not to look."

"And ruin the surprise? Never."

"I suppose you have always had a flair for the dramatic," Helen said.

"One of my many gifts," he said, grinning. "Speaking of, since we're here I may as well give you one present early. You remember the first Christmas we spent together at Oxford, right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I fail to see how this is related, but yes, of course I remember."

"You know, when I swept you off your feet with my debonair charm," he continued helpfully.

She gave him a look. "Nigel forcibly shoved you at me and you stammered until I said I'd be delighted t– ah." Suddenly, Helen knew exactly where this was going.

He stepped back, holding his hand in the air for a moment with his eyes closed in concentration. When he opened them and lowered his hand, stretching it towards her expectantly, there was music filling the air.

If not the song itself, Helen recognized the style – this wasn't from their first Christmas dance, it was from their last. The last time they'd really seen each other before sixty years of distance.

"Christmas, 1942," she said quietly.

"You remember," he said.

"Of course. I also remember telling you to upgrade the intercom system several weeks ago."

"Well…" Nikola waved around him. "I finished."

"And this is how you decided to celebrate?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on. It's me, remember?" He offered her his hand again. "So, Helen Magnus, would you care to dance?"

She looked at him for a few moments, then took it. "It's been a long time," she pointed out. "You think you remember all the steps?"

"How could I forget?"

Nikola rested a hand gently on her shoulder, the fingers of his other hand interlacing with hers again. It _had_ been a long time, but Helen was surprised at how familiar it felt to stand like this with him, sliding her free hand into position on his back.

She waited until the current song had ended and another, slower one had begun, then started. It was a little awkward to begin with, but they soon settled into their old rhythm.

He must have delved into her old records for the music – Helen could hear a faint crackle in the smooth vocals, crooning about being home for Christmas.

"What you did just now, setting off the intercom with your electromagnetism, that could be very useful in the future," Helen said as they glided over the floor.

"So we can dance any time we feel like it?" he asked.

"I was thinking in case of an emergency," she said, chuckling.

"Yeah, sure, that too."

They might have been able to conjure Christmas weather outside, but it was warm inside the Sanctuary, with the fire roaring and Nikola held close against her. They kept dancing, the space between them decreasing little by little until they were pressed together and Helen could feel his breath against her cheek.

She'd had many homes over the years, but she knew without a doubt that right now, here in Hollow Earth surrounded by her friends – her family, really, in so many different ways – this was where she belonged.

"I swore I wasn't going to speak to Nigel for a month," Nikola said, picking up the thread from earlier without a second thought.

"I know for a fact you did, so what changed your mind?" Helen asked, though she had a feeling she already knew.

"What else? You, of course."

"Oh?"

He paused for a second. "It was the first time I got to hold your hand," he said softly.

"Nikola…" Helen squeezed his hand, and he leaned into her, bringing his lips to her temple as they swayed.

The song ended and they slowed to a halt in the silence afterwards.

"Is that all?" Helen asked, trying to conceal the note of disappointment in her voice.

"If you want it to be," Nikola said, before adding with a tentative smile, "Or…we could go a few more. You know, for old time's sake."

"I'll go and get it set up," Helen said, smiling back at him. "You can smuggle your gifts in while I'm gone."

"Brilliant, as always."

They separated, but Helen retained her grip on his hand. "Nikola."

"What is it?"

"Not just for old time's sake," she told him gently.

His answering smile could have lit up an entire city block.

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 **A/N: In case anyone is interested, you can listen to the music they're dancing to at this video on Youtube (it starts about a minute in):** **/** **watch?v=qP7z2qSFKao The title of this fic is taken from that song.**


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